Well, on the original site I started this on a few weeks ago, I'm actually up to Chapter 12. So I will try to upload all the finished ones as quick as I can to get you guys up to speed.
Until then, enjoy!
A cool breeze swept through the city as the group of four travelers entered the confines of the coastal town. May shivered as the wind slipped past her.
"Ooo..." She moaned, crossing her arms across her chest in an attempt to warm herself. "It's kind of cold here..."
"Well, yeah, the city's just off the coast. There's even a beach down south somewhere - "
"Oh, really?" May cried in excitement, her previous complaint already forgotten. "We've got to go down there later!"
Ash and Max glanced at each other and shrugged glumly, the two boys quite familiar with the young girl's love for the beach.
"That won't be a problem, we're heading down that way anyway to catch the boat to Crysanthemum Island later." Brock assured her.
As May squealed in excitement further down the street, Ash took to glancing at the surrounding buildings, remembering his last visit to the town: his search for the city's invisible Gym, his battle with the Gym Leader and ninja master, Koga, and how when they finally made it to the Safari Zone, the grumpy old Warden had almost shot them on sight.
"Those were the days..." Ash thought to himself silently as his companions advanced further down the road. "Man, that was back when Misty still traveled around with us..."
For some reason, when he thought of the female Gym Leader as part of his little cadre, he felt an odd twinge of annoyance in his stomach, though he couldn't figure out why. The harder he thought about it, the worse it got, until...
"Ash!" May called out from the far end of the street. Ash jerked his head up, snapping out of his self-induced trance, and noticed that he had been lagging behind his companions for quite some time. "Hurry up, you slowpoke!"
"Y-yeah, I'm coming!" Ash responded, taking off at a sprint to catch back up with his friends. By the time he reached them, the strange twinge that caused him to halt before was gone, leaving Ash just as confused as he had been previously.
"So where's this Battle Palace of yours?" May asked eagerly as the group continued walking now that Ash was with them again.
"I don't know..." Ash said, looking around the breezy town, observing a few of the civilians walking through the streets. "The Gym here is invisible, or at least it was the last time we were here. So, maybe the Battle Palace is hidden too..." He glanced over at his female companion. "Why're you so interested all of a sudden?"
"Well, I just figure that the quicker you beat the Frontier Brain, the quicker we can go down to the beach and to my Contest!" May exclaimed happily, grinning at the thought.
"Oh...right..." Ash mumbled in response, staring at May as he recalled the strange tingling feeling from before.
"Well, if you're looking for something to do until then, you could always go check out the Safari Zone north of town." Brock suggested, turning to look at May as well.
"Aw, that's right!" Max cried suddenly, his head shooting up. "Kanto's Safari Zone is near here, isn't it?"
"Safari Zone...?" May said slowly.
"Can I go with you, sis?" Max asked hopefully, glancing over at his sister with wide eyes. "Pleeeease?"
"I - I don't know..."
"Oh, come on!" Max persisted. "It'll be so cool! Do you know how many rare Pokemon are kept in there?"
"...well, all right." May agreed hesitantly. "I guess it can't hurt, if we're gonna be staying in town for a while anyway..." She chuckled to herself. "Who knows, maybe I'll actually find something cool in there."
"Uh, yeah, you can say that again!" Max said, already excited at the prospect of seeing the safeguarded Pokemon reserve. "Oh man, this is gonna be so great!"
Brock grinned at the two of them. "All right, then. Let's go check in at the Pokemon Center, then I can show you guys where the Safari Zone is."
Max nodded eagerly at Brock's words. May, however, glanced over at Ash. "What about you, Ash? You coming too?"
Ash shook his head. "Nah, I think I'm gonna go train for the Battle Palace."
"Pika!" Pikachu chimed in, nodding enthusiastically.
"Sure you don't want to come?" Max asked, turning to the older trainer. "I think even you could find something there..."
Ash chuckled. "I already have, Max. Remember those Tauros I have back at Professor Oak's place?"
"Oh, that's right!" Max said, his face brightening as the image of the rare bull Pokemon appeared in his mind. "But, it's not like you've ever really used them, right?"
"Hey, I thought you guys were going to the Pokemon Center? Ash said pointedly, glowering at the young boy.
"I'm just saaaaaying..." Max chirped, dancing backward away from Ash.
"Piiika..." Pikachu said softly as their three companions headed further into the city, May waving back at them.
"...Mm...whatever." Ash muttered in response. "I never really liked those Tauros anyway."
Later that evening, Ash was positioned on the far side of an open field, with Pikachu standing at his feet. His other four Pokemon had all been released in the grass, and were currently engaged in two seperate one-on-one battles by Ash's order. He had figured it to be the most efficient way to make sure they were all equally prepared for the battle ahead, as he wasn't sure who he wanted to battle with yet.
"Good job, Donphan!" He called out encouragingly to his elephant-like Armor Pokemon.
"Piika! Pi-ka-chu!" Pikachu added as Swellow swooped down low, narrowly missing Donphan with Aerial Ace.
Across the field from them, Grovyle and Corphish were also locked in combat, with neither side looking to break anytime soon, despite Grovyle's type advantage.
"Cooor-phish!" Corphish bellowed, hardening his armor to a polished sheen as Grovyle struck yet again with Leaf Blade. It simply bounced off, as it had all the other times the grass Pokemon had attempted the same move.
"Groooo!" Grovyle cried angrily, bouncing back away from his opponent.
"Coooor-phish-phish-phish!" Corphish squalled, cracking open its pinchers and loosing a torrent of bubbles from each.
"Gro! Vyle!" Grovyle roared, nimbly jumping away from the harsh stream. He flipped over in midair, attempting to hit Corphish with an overhead Pound attack.
"Corphish!" Corphish saw it coming, and parried the strike with his own glowing claw, swatting Grovyle out of the sky with Crabhammer.
"GROVYLE!" Grovyle bellowed as he skidded on the ground, unleashing a torrent of Bullet Seed from his mouth.
"Coooor!" Corphish roared, countering the move with another Bubblebeam.
Meanwhile, Donphan wasn't faring much better against Swellow. Due to his limited attack range, he could only move in for a strike when the bird Pokemon was down low.
"Swellow!" Swellow squaked harshly, bearing down in an attempt to use Aerial Ace again.
"Phaaaaaaa!" Donphan grunted angrily, bending under the blow even with Defense Curl.
"Swellow! Swelllll!" Swellow roared, looping around and diving to strike with Wing Attack.
"Phaaaaan!" Donphan bellowed, quickly improvising a Rollout and crashing into Swellow as it glided down to his level.
"Swell - !" Swellow cried out in surprise, swerving to the side in midair as it lost its balance.
"Doooooo!" Donphan cried, quickly spinning around and firing a Hyper Beam at its disorientated opponent.
"Swellowww!" Swellow cried harshly, taking the full brunt of the blow and crashing into the ground.
"Grooooo-vyle!" Grovyle screeched from across the field, swinging another Leaf Blade at Corphish.
"Coooor...!" Corphish grunted, catching the strike in its open claw. It struggled under the pressure for a moment, then swatted Grovyle away with its free pincher and quickly fired a Bubblebeam.
"Groooooo!" Grovyle cried in pain as the numerous bubbles impacted its flesh, sending it toppling to the ground in defeat.
"Pika!" Pikachu cried happily, raising his right arm in the air.
"Yeah!" Ash agreed heartily, gesturing to all of his Pokemon. "Great job, you guys!"
"Corphish, cor!" Corphish responded, turning and grinning at its trainer.
Donphan merely grunted in acknowledgement.
"Ah, well, I guess it was too much to hope that he'd actually smile or something..." Ash said, grinning at the thought of Donphan cracking a grin of his own. "Well, anyway, return, all of you! You all deserve a rest after that!"
"Hey, Ash...!" May's voice called, echoing throughout the now-empty field before Ash and Pikachu. "Ash!"
"Huh?" Ash said to himself, turning to see May jogging up the low hill toward him, with Max close behind. "What are you guys doing here? I thought you were going to the Safari Zone?"
"Yeah, we are." May said, taking a minute to catch her breath as Max ran up beside her.
"But where's...?"
"Brock?" Max finished, interjecting into the conversation as usual. "Where do you think? He's back at the Pokemon Center, trying to convince Nurse Joy to watch the sunset with him."
Ash smiled in acknowledgement of his older friend's eternal quest to court one of the various Nurse Joys across the world.
May simply giggled. "Yeah, so he gave us the directions and we decided to go and find it ourselves." She looked around the field, faintly noticing the slowly darkening amber sky in the background. "So, are you guys still training out here?"
"Yeah...well, we were, at least." Ash explained as Pikachu clambored back up on his shoulder. "I think everyone's tired out for the day."
May nodded and opened her mouth to speak, but Max cut her off. "Come on, May! If we don't hurry up it's gonna be closed!"
"Yeah, I'm coming!" She answered as Max ran off past Ash's training field. Quickly turning back to Ash, who was now framed against the burning sky, she reached into her fanny pack and retrieved the key to their room at the Pokemon Center.
"Oh, thanks!" Ash said enthusiastically, eyeing the key. She slipped it from her hand into his, and for a split second, as their hands locked, Ash felt the stomach flutter for the third time that day.
However, he didn't even notice it this time, and a second later, May was chasing down her all-too-eager younger brother, and Ash was running back toward Fuchsia City, Pikachu perched on his shoulder.
Please R&R!